I'm lucky, my oven goes up to 650 degrees. After some experimentation, I've found that I prefer 550 degrees and bake the pizza 6-7 minutes instead of 650 degrees for 5 minutes. My question is this: Should I let the stone recover in between pizzas ?? So far I haven't, but we are starting to notice that the bottom of the second one is pale compared to the first. How long should I wait in between for it to recover, if at all??

Best thing would be to get a laser thermo so you could take the temps every few minutes to find the exact recovery point. Depending upon the stone quality you could be losing 100 degrees after a first bake.

A 1950's General Electric "Automatic Oven". I've replaced the elements in the past myself. The thermostat is about 100 degrees off, but I don't want to replace it. If it's set on 250, it goes to 350, etc.

I like it that way since I won't bake without at least 2 oven thermometers !!

On which rack position do you bake your pizzas? In the middle? If that's the case, I'd move the stone down to the bottom for about 10 mins, directly over the heating element, while you prepare the next pizza.

When you're ready to put the pizza in, just move it back to the middle position. Worked for me like a charm.

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Mike

"Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new." - Albert Einstein